Supporting frame for articles of footwear



Oct. 1, 1946. w; H. DOHERTY SUPPORTING FRAME FOR ARQICLES OF FOOTWEAR Filed 'Jan. 17, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet "1 INVENTOR. w b'ZZi'a'rh .H" Dakar-3 AT'T O R NEYS Oct. 1, 1946, w. H. DOHERTY SUPPORTING FRAME FOR ARTICLES OF FOOTWEAR 2 SheetS-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 17, 1945 IN V EN TOR. ZUi lliamflipoher' ATTO RN 5 Patented Oct. 1, 1946 Y I :ApplicationJanuaI-y' 1'1, 1945, Serial 1N0. 573.37g;- i I Claims. (cuss-Ass),

z.'Ii'his -inventionzrelates to supporting frames for. A -Referringnow t'o Fig. 3, it will be seen that t h articles of footwear. 1 I preferred embodiment of the invention comprises; The principal object of-Ithe invention is to proa unitary wire frame-member: Iii-which ;iswound vide a supportinglframefor an article of foot-.- in labyrinthine-fashion.to.form heel. shank; archwear,'- saidframe having interconnected heel;

and counter parts. It=wi1lbeseen in'vsaid Fig.3 that.. the. wire. member isv WOUIIdTbEtCk and forth shank, arch and counterparts... i r 1 e A fui'therbbject is to provide .asisupporting alon'gj substantially longitudinal parallel linesframe, of thecharacter .described which: would. looped. at.=th e.ends; to conforms-tothe contoulfsi A stiffen'the. article of.footwear and yet yield suffi'- of .the heel, shank,:archf and counterparts, of...thez ciently. -t0. endow the article of footwear with a 10, article offdotwearnfl"shown-innutline in Fig-.137

desired measure of-fiexibility. V. and more-clearly shown in Fig. 1: 1; 3-

--.. -Still another object .-of the invention is the Theiheelpartof the.'frame memberrlfl comes provision of a. frame of the characterdescribed prises. upper and lower .parts'. 12; and ;I,3, Irespec-.. uponwhichaplastic orrubbersole, shank and tivlely, which arespaceda, predetermined distance? heelmay be fabricated. 15 apart,;and abreast-part1! immediatelyinte ral;- A still further object is theprovisionof an artiwith the-lowe P rt-1 i Theibreastpart-M. serv cle of footwear which would: u t: 'Substanas a resilient spring support .f'orsthe lowier. part I 3.; tially the entire foot. said article of footwear be- Thecounter pa'rt. l5 of. the frame member lnj is ing intended to be used by persons having weak heldinplace by means of a bandit; whichcurves arches-and other foot conditions. around the abacki'of .the: article of footwear and. Preferred embodiments of .the invention are ch-is looped" a o a dth y a fiX t the? shown inthe accompanyingdrawings in whichcounterp rt- I Fig, 1 is ayperspective viewjfJa shoe provided. slidably mounted on'the arch'p'art; H of the.

with a supporting frameof thechara'cter h i frame'imeinberi 'lll are sleeve members |8 iwhose. described and claimed; w "3 H function willhereafter appeani 1. a: "1;. g. 2' is a transverse vertical section 'of'said "Affixed to the shank part l9"b'y-'-means ofrivets shoe on the line 22 of Fig. 1; i 20 is -a shank plate ZFwhich serves to stiffen the: ;I g;' 2a"isa fragmentary 'perspectiveview of an" f am 'n eri r 0 and so p fix saidirame' laced portion of said supporting-frame: member-to the article of'foot'wean Fig. 2b is a sideelevational view partly'ifi sec-i 30. The="s'hank pla-te is shown mqst clearly in Figs tion of m nt 'o'fthe w'i re member which is 1 4 and5: lt'will b'e='s'een inFigl -5that rivets'20.

wound to form the supporting frame herein de- 1 not only fi'I the Shank p a to e frame scribed and claimed, said view being of a sharp ber 10 but also aflix both the shank member and bend in said wire member showing a sleeve fitted 3 the a e member t t e article of footwear over said wire member at said bend; proper and, more particularly, to its inner sole Fig. 2c is a view similar to that of Fig. 2b of and Welt members 22 and 23, respectively. It another portion, being drawn through a supportwill also be seen in Fig. 5 that the heel contacting mg metal plate by which the frame i affixed t part 24 of the shank plate is provided with longithe shoe; tudinal slits 25 and horizontal waves 26. The F g. 211 is a view similar to that of Fi 2b purpose of this construction is to endow said showing a spirally wound wire sleeve on the bend Shank member it the Properties for added of the wire member; silience and strength. Said heel contacting part Fig. 3 is a perspective view f th wire frame 24 of the shank member is welded to the breast herein described and claimed; part ll of the heel of the frame member l0.

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of said frame showing r po di g s e on arch of the how it is aflixed to a supporting plate; frame member H] are tubular members 30 and Fig. 5 is a longitudinal vertical section of the e respectively, wn n s- Zb a d dev ce shown in Fig.4; bular member 38 is made of a plastic material. Fig. 6 1s a fragmentary perspective view of an- Tubular member 3| comprises a flexible spring other method of affixing the wireframe to the wound spirally. It will be noted in Figs. 2b, 2c supportmg Plate. and 2d that these tubular members are applied 8 20, 20 d 2d a a ts W ich ay to the wire comprising frame member In at the be incorporated into the embodiment shown in sharp bends in said wire member. The purpose Figs; 2, 3:, 4 and 5. Fig. 6 is a modification of of this, as well as the purpose in the use of sleeve the embodiment shown'in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. 0 members 18, will shortly, appear.

To properly space the labyrinthine lines into which the frame member is wound, tapes 32 are woven into the frame member to form a Web, as is clearly shown in Fig. 2a.

The counter l5 and arch ll of the frame member H) are disposed between the inner and outer layers of leather or other material which comprises thecupper member 9 of. the .articlelot footwear H..- :S.titches=': [Bataflix theinner and outer layers to each-other and also assist in properly spacing sleeves l8. The heel and shank members of the frame member I!) are embedded in' the plastic or rubber compositiontheel:andshankr will'l 4 r of retaining brackets 4| which themselves are welded to the shank plate. The frame member ID should preferably be made of spring metal wire but it may be made of other resilient material as well, such as some of the new plastic materials which have recently been developed.

I claim: .1. A supporting frameion anarticle of footweamsaid frame vcomprising a unitary wire member wound in labyrinthine fashion to form in- ,terconnected heel. shank, arch and counter parts.

f 2. A supporting frame for an article of footweaitrsaidframe comprising a unitary wire memvber which is wound back and forth along substantially longitudinal, parallel labyrinthine lines to conform-t0 the contours of the heel, shank, or :tarclrand ountenmrtsof said article of footwear.

3. An article of footwear including a supporting-framecarried thereby, said frame comprising larimemberslw oriu are applteditoizsaid ire-me memberJeRelatively rigid .zcontactz is .madeaagbetween: said 'sl'eeves andtubulammembersconwthe one hand, and the articleef -footweansproper-ron the other. J. Butrtsincersaid': members arerslidably mountedion the frame: memberi l 0-,:relative flexibllityobetween said ira-mez: memberrzand :said:

sleeve; tubular :memb'ersxandehencetrbetween.,

said frame':mieniber;'and1' the zarticlazofcfootwear: proper; lSIth-US providednforx f. fkherembodimentiabov xiescrtbedxistjmt: arpreferredcembodimenti of the: invention-z and; a murmber-iof. imodifications andevariationscamay bemin- I troduce'di'therein withoutrdepartingironi thezbasic principles of the invention. fiFortzsexample, instead of makingthez frame n'zemben'rlllrnutrof a single length: of: wire wtoundubackzandfiortlriin' labyrinthine fashionzaboveadescribed; a number,

or? shorten iengthsfof wirer-lflwmight :tbe-.;used. .In such ieaserinsteadzof being: looped :at aha-forward and rrrearl .endsmfu the frame: menriber ctl xeyr would terminate at said'points; ';Instead.of;-being .1rivetedythereforei to. the; shanklplatesrasr abovadescribedt- 'they :woulctbe aflixed; thereto by means.

a unitary wire frame member wound in labyrinthineeiashiorr to formiinterconnected heelyshank, arch and counter parts, sleeves slidablymounted on; said frame: .whereerelativeimovementLbetween the :frame, :and th'e. article: of :v footweariiis found desirablern-andx means: fomafixingrsaid frame: and said sleeves to said articleiofltoutwear;

4r -rarticle -oft-footwear;havingva supporting frame: affixed theretoa-whiclmcomprises a; shank plate; a .wire: frames memberiaflixedatmsaid? a plate, and sleeves slidablyimountedrioir said wire frame member wherevrelativermovementsbetween theunitaryw-irewmembr andfithe articlerofifootwearis;- required;.;said:;wire framei membencomprising a:unitary:-wire'amembeni-wonnmint labyrinthine fashion to formrzinterconnectecrmheeh shank-archandcounterzpartsl y 5.: In :1 amarticle of:footwear.--:'havin grcomposi tion heel; shank and: soleimembers, arsupportin'g frame .comprisi-nga ar'shankvplate, a. wvireiframe' member affixed to,said-shank-zplaterandisleeves slidably amounted mmsaid? wire:=;frame:-: member where. a relative. movement: betweemx said wire frame member and therarticles of footwean is ;de sired; .:saidv -wire. frameimembenmconsisting ofi a unitary wire member wound'zzin labyrinthine fashion to form interconnected: heel,-'sh'ank, arch and counter parts, said shank platerand-is'aidzheel and shankfparts oftthe wire frame :member: being embedded; in, the: composition ;heel..: antl r-shank members. of the. article .OfZ-fOOtWEQL l WILLIE-AM. 

